Cardiff Devils test their offensive options in opening match against Coventry Blaze at the Sky Dome on Wednesday

Hosts Coventry have 6ft 5ins 'monster of a man' Brian Stewart between the pipes

Tyson Marsh is one of 12 Canadians in the Cardiff Devils team - and one of only three import players returning from last season

Cardiff Devils will test out their forward options against the biggest goalie in Elite League ice hockey this week.

Head coach Andrew Lord and his new-look Devils travel to play Coventry Blaze in a challenge match on Wednesday and they have signed 6ft 5ins Canadian netminder Brian Stewart.

“He’s an absolute monster of a man, especially for a goalie, and certainly covers a lot of the net,” says Blaze coach Marc Lefebvre.

Lord has a lot of flexibility in his forwards. Joey Martin can play left wing or centre, although he is likely to start through the middle, Doug Clarkson is equally comfortable on right or left wing, while Lord and Jake Morissette can play on either wing or centre. It looks likely, though, they will start in wide areas.

Lord and bench coach Neil Francis will use Devils four challenge matches, starting at Coventry, to test out forward combinations, but it’s possible they will go for an energy line with Clarkson, Mychan and Myers candidates to link up in that capacity.

All of Cardiff’s 12 import players and Canadians and nine of them are new to the Elite League with only Lord, Morissette and Tyson Marsh returning.

Devils now have all of their skaters in and they train as a complete team for the first time on Monday morning.

After Wednesday’s pre-season match at Coventry, Devils are in Northern Ireland to play Belfast Giants on Saturday. Giants are then at Cardiff Bay Arena for a return clash the next evening (6pm).

Cardiff then play Coventry at the Big Blue Tent next Wednesday (7.30pm) before the Elite League fixtures start with back-to-back home games over the first weekend in September. Hull Stingrays are visitors on Saturday, September 6 (7pm) with Sheffield Steelers coming to Cardiff Bay the next evening (6pm).

Ticket information for all Devils matches is available from the box office on Cardiff 029 2038 2001.

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